


Average

by arianapeterson19



Series: Avengers Shorts [38]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bullying, Genius Tony Stark, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Tony, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Rhodey, Protective Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 03:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6266914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianapeterson19/pseuds/arianapeterson19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony wished he had looked up before replying with a snarky comment. If he had just kept his mouth shut, none of this would have happened.</p><p>OR</p><p>The one where Tony is a kid in college and people still suck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Average

The woman at the front of the lecture hall was saying something but all Tony could think about was how her voice sounded like it belonged in a funeral home. It was a morbid thought but when Tony closed his eyes, he could pretend he was sitting on one of the worn red velvet couches that littered the funeral home three blocks away, and the presenter was there talking in her muted voice about something that was a more death than life issue. Tony opened his eyes again and was disappointed to find he was still in the lecture hall, surrounded by people who would drop out in the next two years, have babies, find jobs, and never remember that he existed in their world as a corporal being, not just a picture in the papers. And he would be a picture in the papers one day - a fifteen year old genius was bound to end up there one way or another.

When he left Hawk Heights, California, there was no going away party because no one cared that he was leaving. It rained that day, softer than the rain that pounded the window of the lecture hall, more polluted, but ultimately caused by the same thing-reaching dew point.

Tony yawned and went back to studying the other people in the class, each one he knew by name - real or made up.

Like that red head sitting two rows in front and four seats to the left of Tony. The genius knew her name was Natasha because she hung out with his friend Clint sometimes. She never smiled. Her face was carefully innocent, eyes large as if they were taking in the world and not just the immediate area, her uneven red bangs fell into her eyes at times, but her mouth never quirked. At times Tony thought she might be joking or pleased, but then he looked at her face and couldn't be sure because it was still innocent, blank, and unsmiling.

Or that professor who Tony was fairly certain was the embodiment of the devil. If the dictionary had pictures that professor's would be next to the word grouch. His eyebrows never stopped crinkling in disapproval. It was understandable considering his job was stressful but Tony highly doubted the man had ever been in a better mood and often thought that if he asked the man's mother she would tell him that he was born mad at the world and would die the same way.

The lady was still droning on at the front of the room when Tony managed to drag his attention back there. The skin under her jaw sagged making her look more like a mastiff as time passed than a once beauty of her water tower named town. She was talking about how she married young to a man with hair already running away from his head and whose mind followed soon after. Honestly, the entire class over human interaction was a joke, in Tony's not so humble opinion.

When time was finally up, Tony nudged his roommate, waking the man from his nap.

"What'd I miss?" mumbled Jim, rubbing his eyes.

"Nothing earth shattering," said Tony with a shrug. "Something about mental health disorders and how war is bad."

"Okay," said Jim, the black man standing and stretching before joining the throng of students leaving the building. "Well I need to head to practice. I'll meet you for dinner."

"Whatever, jock," said Tony with a grin.

"Nerd," replied Jim, shoving the younger boy on his way to the practice field.

Tony made his way to a deserted corner of campus. There he sat down just off the path, leaning against a tree and working on his project for his upper level engineering course. One equation was giving him trouble and he wanted to fix it before going to class because the people in his class were the worst kinds of people. Each of them had been the top of their class in whatever town they came from and assumed that made them the smartest in college. They were older and larger than Tony and didn't appreciate the young genius showing them up. If they found out Tony was struggling with anything at all, it would mean hell for the kid.

"What do we have here?" drawled the ever whining voice of the biggest dick in any of Tony's classes, Justin Hammer.

"It's called a tree," replied Tony, not looking up from his work. "It's an oak tree to be exact. You can take a botany class if you want to know more. I suggest you try basic biology first, though, considering you're having a difficult time distinguishing a tree from other life forms."

Tony should have looked up because the next second he found himself on the ground, his work thrown to the side, looking into the glaring face of Aldrich Killian. Had he looked up before replying he would have known that Hammer had teamed up with Killian and he could have been prepared for what would inevitably end up as a decent beating that he would have to later deny to his overprotective roommate.

"What did you say, boy?" growled Killian.

"I'd repeat it but I doubt you'd listen since you didn't bother the first time around," said Tony, wishing that for once he could just keep his mouth shut.

And he continued wishing that as the two older men beat him up and ruined his work. He wished it when the sun started setting and he was still laying in the bushes near that damn tree, his ribs aching too much for him to want to move, head pounding in a way that he was positive he had a mild concussion at best. He really wished it when his roommate came looking for him and brought two of his teammates, both of whom were gorgeous and the last people Tony wanted to see him like that.

"Who?" was all Jim asked as he gently hoisted Tony into a sitting position, letting the kid he had claimed as a little brother lean against him.

"'M fine," mumbled Tony, shuddering when Jim wrapped his jacket around his slim shoulders.

"Was it Hammer or Killian?" demanded Jim, motioning for Steve or Bucky to get on Tony's other side and help the poor kid up off the dirt. "I'll kill them both."

"They'd probably just come back from the dead," sighed Tony, giving up and letting the older boys take him back to their suite. "Pretty sure Hammer is part cockroach and Killian can probably breathe fire or some shit, so they won't die easy."

"I like a challenge," said Bucky, who rarely said anything at all.

Jim helped Tony sit on his lower bunk while Bucky fetched the first aid kit for the room he shared with Steve, which connected to Jim and Tony's room through a shared bathroom. Tony didn't fight it when Jim pulled off his shirt, hissing at the way his ribs ached, but he did blush when he realized Steve was still in the room and when Bucky returned. The boys didn't talk much as they patched up their younger friend and when the pain pills kicked in and sent Tony to sleep still curled up on Jim's bed, the others simply sat on the ground and finished their homework, softly talking.

"Poor kid," said Steve, eying Tony on the bed. "He just can't catch a break."

"We should kill those assholes," said Bucky.

"I agree," said Jim. "But I'm also going to call Clint and Bruce and ask them to keep Tony company while we're at practice. I don't like the idea of him being alone. It's getting worse."

The others nodded and for a moment all three studied the kid sleeping on the bed. Somehow the genius had wormed his way into all of their lives and they'd be damned if they let anyone else screw with their kid now.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been brought to my attention that someone has written a story eerily similar to one of my stories. Now normally I'm all, "It's fanfiction bro, stories are going to have similar elements, let's not get our panties in a bunch." But this time the story is like uber similar and I'm not sure how to take that.....
> 
> So I wrote another story (when I had zero intention on posting again until like Saturday when I will be reunited with my computer).
> 
> Also if you want to compare stories/writing styles, my story is "Not Fighting" and the new one is "Panic" by Kelady.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


End file.
